Mississippi town finds itself in Twilight Zone: Have its laws vanished?

BAY ST. LOUIS - City leaders in Bay St. Louis are searching for the community's zoning laws, which appear to have vanished into a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity: The Twilight Zone.

The Sun Herald reports that a lawyer told city council members this week that Bay St. Louis zoning laws don't legally exist.

Bay St. Louis attorney Stephen Benvenutti said the city's comprehensive zoning ordinance was never published, as required by law, when it was adopted by the previous City Council in 2010.

The zoning ordinance was part of a comprehensive plan that took more than two years to develop amid rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina.

The Sun Herald reports that council members are expressing concern over the ramifications, which may render the current zoning laws void.